1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveying apparatus for lining up objects (products) to be conveyed, which are carried out of a manufacturing line, in a single line lengthwise for conveying, and more particularly to a circulation type line-up conveying apparatus for lining up objects to be conveyed, which are irregularly carried out, in a single line lengthwise for the next process for conveying, and automatically returning objects to be conveyed which have been overflowed from a line-up line, upstream for conveying.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to individually package products, which are irregularly carried out of the manufacturing line, in the next process, it is necessary to line up and convey the products. For example, in a bun factory, in order to individually package buns to be carried out of the manufacturing line, it is necessary to line up the buns in a single line lengthwise at predetermined intervals for conveying.
As the line-up conveying means, there has been proposed a method (See, for example, Patent Reference 1 (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 8-81045)) whereby for example, a conveying apparatus is constituted by contiguously providing a plurality of belt conveyors in a single line lengthwise, and a speed difference is given to the revolution speeds of the belt conveyors to thereby separate the products at a transferred portion from a conveyor to another conveyor, and further guides are provided on the conveyors to thereby line up the products in a single line lengthwise. In another method (See, for example, Patent Reference 2 Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 6-345236)) a guide device is installed for drawing the products into a line on the downstream side (in the neighborhood of an outlet) of the conveying apparatus, or the like.
In the case of the line-up conveying apparatus described in the Patent Reference 1, however, since the plurality of belt conveyors are contiguously provided in a single line lengthwise and arranged, large installation space for the line-up conveying apparatus is required, and further as pretreatment for supplying the products to the line-up conveying apparatus, conveyors and the like for lining up in a single line sideways, having a forcible feeding finger for conveying the object group in a predetermined direction, and further other equipment are required, leading to a problem that the requirements will be expensive.
Also, in the line-up conveying apparatus described in the Patent Reference 2, there may be cases where the products get delayed in the vicinity of the upstream of the guide device, and in that case, an operator has to manually remove the delayed products. There is an inconvenience that in order to return the products to the line-up conveying apparatus, the operator or the like will be required.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the problems that the above-described conventional techniques have had, and is aimed to provide a circulation type line-up conveying apparatus capable of automatically lining up objects, which have been supplied in disorder and in many lines, in a single line lengthwise for forwarding, and automatically returning objects, which have been overflowed from the line-up line, to an upstream part of the conveying apparatus.